Home run by Nolan Arenado in 16th lifts Colorado Rockies over LA Dodgers 5-4

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Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado hits a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 16th inning of a baseball game, early Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

Take the Dodgers. They entered their game Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies in an enviable position — a 7 1/2-game lead over the second-place Giants in the NL West with just 19 to play.

The last thing the Dodgers want to do is coast. That’s how a team loses a seemingly insurmountable lead. It can also lead a team into the postseason on the wrong note.

No worries, Joc Pederson said.

“I think we’re preparing to win a World Series, so if you want to be the best, you’ve gotta prepare like the best,” the 23-year-old center fielder said.

Mat Latos (4-10), a starting pitcher by trade, was not at his best when he gave up a home run to Nolan Arenado in the top of the 16th inning, giving the Rockies a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers before 45,311 at a wet Dodger Stadium. It was home run No. 39 for Arenado. About 2,000 were left when he hit his blast.

In seeing their three-game winning streak snapped, the Dodgers (83-61) still managed to reduce their magic number to clinch the division to 11. That’s because the Giants also lost, leaving the Dodgers 7 1/2 games ahead.

It was the Dodgers’ longest game since losing a 3-2, 15-inning game to St. Louis on July 29, 2009. This one took 5 hours and 23 minutes to complete.

Afterward, Latos sat at his locker, still in uniform, looking completely dejected. He was asked how tough it is to come into a game as a reliever when he’s used to starting.

“It’s not tough,” he said. “It’s just … I have to pitch either way. I made one (expletive) mistake and it cost us the ballgame.”

Latos last pitched Sept. 3.

When a game takes this long, a win is so much sweeter. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly really wanted this one.

“You’re trying to win a game and do everything you can to win a game,” he said. “It gets to a point you’re just, yeah, how bad? You want the game, obviously. You play that long, you’re trying to win.”

The teams combined to use a record 24 pitchers. The previous record was 21, used by the Orioles and Rays in an 18-inning game in 2013. A combined 58 players were used, also a record.

The Rockies used 13 pitchers, the Dodgers 11. The Rockies’ final pitcher, Gonzalez Germen, nearly gave up a game-tying home run to Scott Schebler in the bottom of the 16th, but his drive was caught at the center field fence.

The Dodgers still had something left. Corey Seager singled and made it to third with two outs, but Ronald Torreyes struck out to end the game.

The Rockies had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 11th on an RBI single by DJ LaMahieu off reliever Juan Nicasio. The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI infield single by Chris Heisey.

David Hale (4-5) picked up the win. Germen had his first save.

The Dodgers had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. But with Schebler on second and Seager on first, Schebler was picked off when he got into a rundown after he slipped trying to get back to second base. Seager took second on that play, then was wild-pitched to third and Heisey walked. But pinch-hitters Yasmani Grandal and Andre Ethier fouled out and flied out to left, respectively.

The Dodgers scored a run in the first inning on a double by Justin Ruggiano and RBI single by Justin Turner. Dodgers starter Brett Anderson worked out of jams in the first and third innings, but couldn’t in the fourth.

Arenado and Justin Morneau both singled. DJ LeMahieu hit a ground ball to the hole at deep shortstop. It appeared Seager should have just eaten the ball, but he threw wide to third trying to get the lead runner. The ball got past third baseman Turner and Arenado scored, LeMahieu and Morneau ending up at second and third.

Ground-ball outs by Corey Dickerson and Dustin Garneu brought those two home for a 3-1 Rockies lead.

Anderson went six innings and allowed three runs — two earned — on seven hits while striking out seven on just 78 pitches. He was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth.

The Dodgers tied the game in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Chris Heisey and pinch-hit single by Austin Barnes; three Rockies converged on that ball but it fell between them. It was Barnes’ first big-league RBI.

Before the marathon game, Mattingly and Turner also weighed in on how this team should go about its business. Mattingly, for one, is not concerned about any letdown.

“They’ve been good,” he said of his players. “I think we understand who’s behind us; those guys (the Giants) aren’t going to stop playing. And I just don’t think you can ever afford to let up. This game changes so fast. There’s been a couple of times this year, probably in the last month, that the sky’s been falling on us and we were going in the wrong direction and next thing you know we’ve been able to turn it around.

“This game changes back and forth and you don’t ever want to let momentum go in another direction. … And I think our guys have been pretty good with it. We’ve got some veteran guys, our young guys are playing with enthusiasm and excited to be here. I don’t think anybody’s looking down the road.”

Neither does Turner.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re just playing against the Giants to win the division,” he said. “We’re also trying to finish better than the Mets and get home-field advantage (in the NLDS). I think everyone knows the importance of that and we’ve got that in mind, too, so that’s a little added incentive.”

The Mets — in first in the NL East — lost Tuesday, making them 83-62, a half-game behind than the Dodgers.